Prenatal diagnosis of inherited hemoglobinopathies

Profile of ?-thalassemia in eastern India and its prenatal diagnosis

OBJECTIVE

To control the birth of thalassemic children in India.

METHODS

Mutations present in the population of eastern India and in carrier parents seeking prenatal diagnosis were detected by the PCR-based technique of ARMS (amplification refractory mutation system) or gap-PCR. To screen for maternal tissue contamination in CVS, haplotypes associated with the beta-globin gene clusters were constructed using six polymorphic restriction sites. Prenatal diagnosis was accomplished by checking presence of parental mutation in the DNA from chorionic villus sampling (CVS) collected at 8 to 10 weeks' gestation by appropriate technique.

RESULTS

Six hundred and fifty (650) unrelated beta-thalassemia chromosomes were screened for 11 common mutations to characterize the mutation distribution in this population. Starting from early 2000, 63 families from different parts of West Bengal and from surrounding areas have been offered prenatal counseling for beta-thalassemia.

CONCLUSION

The population of this region is conscious and willing to accept prenatal diagnosis as a means of control of thalassemia.

Hypofibrinogenaemia is the commonest congenital fibrinogen abnormality in north India

Congenital abnormalities of fibrinogen are rare disorders and all the cases reported in the literature indicate that the incidence of afibrinogenaemia is much higher than hypofibrinogenaemia. Of the total of 20 cases reported from other parts of India only one was congenital hypofibrinogenaemia. In contrast, the present study showed eight patients with congenital hypofibrinogenaemia among a total of nine unrelated North Indian patients with a fibrinogen abnormality. This disproportionately high incidence of hypofibrinogenaemia suggests the existence of a distinct genetic defect in the North Indian population.